


We Are Gathered Here Today...

by nic



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Jim just wants to be married to his t'hy'la, M/M, Marriage Proposal, McCoy gets carried away, Weddings, post fal-tor-pan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 11:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21319483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nic/pseuds/nic
Summary: Spock is back from the dead.  It should be a simple matter to re-instate his marriage to Jim, right?  Not according to the Starfleet records, and McCoy sees this as the perfect opportunity to throw Jim and Spock the wedding they deserve.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock
Comments: 3
Kudos: 116





	We Are Gathered Here Today...

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the "Devotion" zine (2016). Finally uploading after the wonderful weekend I had at KisCon 2019!

\---

It started, innocently enough, with an invitation.

“Captain James T. Kirk and Guest.”

Kirk, scrolling through his daily hundred or so messages, paused. He was in need of a good party, hell, they all were after the recent debacle with Sybok. And the whales. And the entire past year, come to think of it. The camping trip had been a great chance to relax and reconnect with the two people he was closest to, but never let it be said that James T. Kirk was getting mellow in his old age. He still enjoyed music and dancing with the best of them.

He opened the invitation and discovered it was a Starfleet diplomatic event, the traditional “welcome to the Federation” shindig that various ambassadors tended to host. This was from a race Kirk hadn’t yet encountered, though they seemed the typical humanoid alien with eyes and parts all in the customary places.

Clicking on the RSVP link, he expected it to auto-populate as it always did, with his name and Spock’s. (Say what you want about Starfleet bureaucracy, but its computer systems worked exceedingly well.) Yet there was that confusing, annoying empty space where his husband’s name should be.

Sighing, Kirk pulled up his public Starfleet record - the one the ambassador would have used to create the invitee list.

There was the problem. Marital status: single.

The common twinge of pain reared its head. Yet another reminder of the last year of hell, of life without Spock and facing death and everything that came with it. Yes, Spock was back (and Kirk was filled with joy in so many ways) but the grief, the lasting scars, lingered. Dealing with Starfleet bureaucracy to get Spock “resurrected” in the databases had been an unending series of debacles; at one point, he, McCoy and Spock had spent the entire day walking around HQ demonstrating to various HR personnel that yes, this was the original Spock in the flesh resurrected and McCoy had the medical documentation to prove it. (And a court order.)

But apparently they’d missed updating Kirk’s marital status.

Surely it wouldn’t be that hard to correct, would it? He started the call.

\---

“And then she said,” by this point, Kirk was three shots of tequila in, “that marriage is recognised until “death do us part”, and since my husband had actually died, there was nothing she could do!”

McCoy patted his arm sympathetically. “I’ve told you before, Jim, the whole system’s too clever for its own good.”

“She suggested that the best way to fix this was to get married again!” He sighed. “To the same man, mind you. Which means we have to pay the application fee and serve out the waiting period and get formal witnesses....” Slumping back in his seat, Kirk continued, “I just want things to be back to normal. Is that too much to ask?”

Spock nodded gravely. “It seems it is too much to ask.” It was moments like these that it was difficult to tell if Spock was joking with them all. He steepled his fingers together. “If it truly is too much of an imposition to marry me again, then I will respect your wishes and continue to, as the doctor might put it, “live in sin”.“

Of course the tiny glint in his eyes gave it away, much to McCoy’s amusement, but Kirk was appropriately chastened.

“No, Spock, I didn’t mean that!” Oblivious to the onlookers, he pushed back his chair and got down on one knee. “Spock, love of my life, will you marry me? Again?”

Spock lifted one eyebrow. Stared down at the impulsive man before him. The room grew quiet; as usual, they were Starfleet’s finest attracting far too much attention.

“Jim, the man deserves a better proposal than that!” interjected McCoy. He hauled Kirk back up off the floor (but not before Spock gave an almost imperceptible nod, because there was only one answer to that question and he certainly wasn’t going to leave Jim hanging.)

“Come to think of it,” he continued addressing Kirk, “haven’t you been looking for an excuse for a big party?” (Spock had flat-out refused the “Welcome back Spock!” party that his Academy proteges had proposed, after all, it seemed a little inappropriate and in this instance, Kirk had concurred.)

Kirk nodded.

“And I still haven’t forgiven you two for what you did the first time!”

McCoy had a point. Following the V’ger incident, Kirk and Spock had reconciled and secretly married in the administration office at Starfleet HQ, Commodore Barstow presiding. And then they hadn’t told anyone. McCoy had only found out when reviewing Kirk’s medical file and saw the updated notation to his marital status.

“I would be prepared,” Spock said slowly, “to endure a small celebration to ensure that my husband and shipmates are adequately satisfied.”

Kirk still wasn’t convinced. “You want us to have a wedding?”

“I’ll do all the work!” McCoy volunteered.

Kirk looked at Spock. Spock lifted an eyebrow. And McCoy ordered another round of drinks. “We’re celebrating an engagement over here!”

\---

Kirk had been bamboozled into hosting his own wedding. To a man he was already married to. How had this happened?

He asked Spock that exact question the next morning as they indulged in some early-morning cuddling (which Kirk couldn’t get enough of these days, having experienced too many lonely nights).

As always, Spock had an answer for him. “You let Doctor McCoy ply you with alcohol as he appealed to your generous nature.”

“Oh, my generous nature?” asked Kirk. “I think the human word you’re looking for is schmuck.”

“Perhaps,” Spock replied, “but it is one of your many admirable qualities that I would not want to change.”

Kirk nestled closer, his heart warmed. This side of Spock was often hidden, the side that would admit how much he cared for Kirk. Oh, they knew how much they loved each other. It was explicitly obvious in their actions, the many times they’d gone to extraordinary lengths to save each other. But saying the words? Actually admitting the true depths of their feelings?

It was rare.

“Spock, I….” How to put into words the wave of feeling coursing through him? How amazed he was, every day, that Spock was with him again? That Spock had recovered his memories (if not the feelings) and still chosen to be with him? That between them, they were rebuilding their lives, sharing Kirk’s emotion-coloured remembrances and finding themselves as united as ever?

“I know, Jim.” Spock took his hand between his own.

Kirk looked at their joined hands. So different in colour, in texture, and yes, Spock’s was smooth and unworn. No traces of scars or sun damage from a childhood on Vulcan or the trauma of a career in Starfleet. Whereas Kirk’s hands held every trace of the sacrifices he’d made to get here, to this moment.

“We never got rings,” he said. “I know we didn’t think they were necessary, but they might be nice?” A symbol. Something to show he and Spock belonged to each other (even if the Starfleet database didn’t think so).

Spock was silent so Kirk continued, “We wouldn’t have to wear them all the time; certainly not while on duty, but I think...I think I’d like to wear one.” He could picture it now, something simple, but with a Vulcan symbol. “”I’d like to get you one too.”

“I would wear such a gift from you.”

He kissed Spock then, while his mind whirled with possibilities, of making a bold new chapter in their lives. Suddenly the whole wedding thing didn’t seem so bad.

\---

“So I haven’t heard back from Admiral Bradshaw, but we did hear from your nephew, who RSVP’d for 10 people.”

“What?!” Kirk stared at McCoy in horror. “I thought we said this would be a small event! Intimate! Immediate friends and family only!”

Showing Kirk the list on his data pad, McCoy protested, “Peter is family! He’s bringing his wife, his two kids, and they both have partners now, who want to bring their children, and oh, one of the partners has an old friend who’s visiting Earth at the time, so….”

Kirk resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. This was getting ridiculous. The venue wouldn’t be big enough. The caterer would throw a fit. And every day he was still getting messages from old colleagues and friends who’d heard about the “wedding of the decade” and were angling for an invitation.

“How many guests are we up to now?”

McCoy had the decency to look a little guilty. “It might be somewhere in the vicinity of a hundred….”

“One hundred people?!”

He shiftily avoided Kirk’s gaze. “All right, it’s more like one hundred and fifty, but Jim, you don’t want to leave out any of the original Enterprise crew, right?”

The idea had seemed reasonable at the time but now, with an ever-expanding guest list, Kirk’s doubts were growing.

“And the majority of them are bringing dates….”

“Just when did they all find the time to partner up?” he asked. “I thought Starfleet was enough fulfilment for most people!” He reflected on his own bridge crew, as far as he knew, they’d mostly been married to their careers. Okay, Sulu had a daughter and Uhura never lacked for company but still, he’d envisioned a small celebration where it was just the handful of them.

“And then there are the Vulcans. We didn’t want to risk insulting the House of Sarek so I invited them all.”

“All of them?!” Kirk suddenly couldn’t breathe.

“All of them.”

He knew this was the opposite of what Spock was expecting. Spock. Love of his life. The reason for this whole crazy thing. How was he going to explain this? He asked McCoy.

“Now don’t you worry about that just now. What I really need from you is your signature on the deposit for the doves. And we still need to decide if we’re going with flamingo or watermelon for your secondary colour….”

\---

Kirk and Spock hovered behind the ornate columns, peering into the banquet hall. Way down the front was a dais adorned with elaborate flowers and reams of silk. McCoy bustled about, ordering the staff with the air of a man who’d been born to do this. He climbed the stairs and surveyed the room before turning back to fix detailing so small they couldn’t make it out. “The ceremony location, I presume.”

The rest of the room was just as bad. There seemed to be at least a hundred tables that would seat ten people. Beautiful candelabras decorated each one, and to his horror, Kirk realised that there was a holographic photograph suspended in the central flame. It was a picture of himself and Spock, gazing at each other. If that wasn’t bad enough, it was surrounded by a hazy pink heart.

“Spock... “ For once, Kirk was speechless. “I - I - “

Regarding his almost-husband with mild amusement, Spock said, “Perhaps I should have taken an interest in the arrangements after all.”

“I’m so sorry!”

“I think the Doctor has found his second calling in life.”

They shifted further back into the shadows as a troupe of servers scurried by, hoisting an ice sculpture that - oh, surely not - seemed to be a Starfleet insignia mated with an IDIC symbol. Kirk buried his face in Spock’s shoulder, half in contrition, half in mortification.

An angelic chorus of voices resonated throughout the hall; the choir was in their final rehearsal. Still with his eyes closed, Kirk listened, gathering his resolve. He knew what he had to do.

“Hey Spock,” he whispered, close to his ear. “You wanna get outta here?”

\--

McCoy was going to kill them. Well, maybe he wouldn’t go that far, but Kirk knew that any future medical exams from this point on would be even more torturous than usual.

Still, the look of relief on Spock’s face made it all worth it.

They stood quietly; just the two of them and a judge in a small office. No decorations, no music, and no audience. It was almost perfect.

“Do you, Captain James Tiberius Kirk, take Spock of Vulcan, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Smiling broadly, Kirk said, “I do.”

They kissed, softly, gently, a kiss filled with years of memories and promises for the future.

Then Kirk took a step back and linked arms with his husband. “Now, I heard a rumour that a certain Doctor has thrown a wonderful party downstairs. Would you care to accompany me there?”

“Always, Jim.”

Arm in arm, they walked to their friends and their future.


End file.
